Is AICAR legal in the United States?

AICAR was the first exercise in a pill, from a 2008 mouse paper. It switches on AMPK, and it has been banned in sport since 2009. Human programs in heart surgery and leukemia never produced an approved drug. The doses that worked in animals are far too big to use in people.

Inside cells, AICAR turns into a molecule that switches on AMPK, the cell's fuel sensor. The biggest human trial, in 3,080 heart bypass patients, was stopped early because it did nothing.

How it works: Inside cells it turns into ZMP, which looks like a low-energy signal and switches on AMPK. That turns on genes linked to endurance.

Approval history: Never approved

Approves prescription drugs, each for a named use. It also acts against unapproved products, including peptides sold online. Compounding pharmacies, which mix drugs to order, may make some compounds with a prescription. That only applies when the FDA puts the compound in a category of bulk ingredients it allows.

The legal category above is how The Longevity Archive reads U.S. Food and Drug Administration listings for AICAR on the reviewed date. It is not a legal opinion. Rules change. Bringing a compound into the country, prescribing it and owning it can each be treated differently. Check with the agency before you act on anything here.

Check FDA directly

Whether AICAR is banned in sport is set by the World Anti-Doping Code and by military rules, not by its legal status in the United States. Before you compete or get tested, look up AICAR by name on the Prohibited List, or look up a named product in Global DRO. Under the World Anti-Doping Code, category S0 bans, at all times, any drug-like substance that meets two tests. No other section of the List covers it. And no government health regulator anywhere has a current approval for it as a treatment in people. Many substances that are approved somewhere are banned by name in another section. So approval does not mean a substance is allowed in sport.

• WADA Prohibited List
• Global DRO (check a named product)
• USADA (US athletes)
• Operation Supplement Safety (US service members)

The rules you compete or serve under decide this, not this page.